


Leverage: Where Angels Fear to Tread

by Gilbert_H_Karr



Category: Leverage
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-01-26 13:40:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21375031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gilbert_H_Karr/pseuds/Gilbert_H_Karr
Summary: Injuries are nothing unusual for the Leverage team, and especially not for their hitter. Besides, Eliot is, in the best case, something of a lone wolf. So it isn't odd that an injured Eliot decides to lay low for a couple of days until the team receives a message that worries them for their hitter's safety, and they know that they must find him in time or risk losing him forever.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

The single, bare, low-wattage bulb flickered dimly in its socket, the weak light glinting faintly off of the metal bars of the cells. The only sounds in the middle of the night were the buzz of electricity arcing inside the walls behind the ancient fuse box, the gentle snores of the inmates, and the footsteps of the night guard as he made his rounds. Then, there was the sound of running water. It seemed to be coming from the cell at the very end. As he drew closer, he saw a small pool of water running under the bars of the cell. That could mean a broken pipe, a clogged sink or toilet, or any number of things. He couldn’t leave it, or the whole place would be flooded by morning. 

Turning on his pen light, he shone it around the cell, but it was too dark to see where the water was coming from. Gentle snores told him the occupants of the cell were asleep. He retrieved his keys from his pocket and unlocked the door, shining his light at the sink as he went. Just as he stepped up to the sink, he realized it was not the source of the leak, as it, and everything around it, was dry. As he started to turn back around, something large and heavy hit him over the head, and he crumbled to the floor, unconscious. 

The occupant of the cell quickly stripped him, exchanged clothes with him, and dragged him to the cot, holding a pillow over the man’s face until he was sure he had stopped breathing. Moving soundlessly, he unlocked the door, slipped through, and locked it again behind him. The guard wouldn’t be found until morning, and with any luck, he’d be long gone by then. 

He put his visor down, so that if he ran into anyone, they would simply think he was the night guard on patrol. When he gained the freedom of the deserted street, he withdrew a mobile telephone from his pocket, touched a button, and watched in mild amusement while a car pulled around the corner and stopped right in front of him. It was painted to look like a taxi, so that it would draw no undue attention. He climbed in and the car sped off into the night. 

(0o0)

Eliot was sitting in the bar, feeling worse by the minute. He had patched himself up, with the help of Parker, and was trying to be social. He had felt better earlier, but was now deciding that that was simply the rush of adrenaline after a successful job. Now, his head was pounding, and one eye was almost swollen shut, not to mention that he could barely move his bad shoulder. He suspected, from the kind of headache that he had, and the intermittent waves of nausea washing over him, that he had a concussion. 

He was also supposed to have a date. A friend of his was in town for a short time, passing through on her way back to DC, and he had asked her to dinner to catch up. He had considered cancelling, but she was almost definitely already on her way. Besides, Eliot figured spending some time with her might take his mind off of his injuries. 

Just as he had that thought, Parker and Hardison thudded into the booth—Parker next to him—and he gritted his teeth as a wave of pain shot through him. The two newcomers had been chattering jovially, and he was listening quietly, when Hardison looked at him. Really looked at him. The bandaged hand. The hood pulled up over his head. The busted lip and overall rough look of him. 

“Hey man, you really should’ve let us get you to a doctor,” Hardison said.  
Eliot started to shake his head, and stopped when it hurt. “I hired a nurse.”  
“That ah boy,” Parker said, punching him on the shoulder. Eliot flinched. “A little chicken noodle soup.” She punched him again. “A little grandmotherly love”

“Stop,” Eliot said to Parker firmly. Grandmotherly love? If she only knew. 

At that moment, his friend, a tall, sexy blonde, walked into the bar and, spotting him, made her way up to their table. He rose to meet her. Turning back to Hardison, he said, “This is Nurse Gail.” 

Hardison’s mouth fell open slightly, and Eliot felt the eyes of both Parker and Hardison on them as he escorted his friend out, while she supported him. Just as they reached the door, Eliot heard Hardison say, “I don’t think she’s registered.” Eliot made a mental note to have a talk with the younger man later, about what you don’t say about his friends when there’s a chance they could overhear.

When they gained the relative privacy of the street, Gail stopped and looked at him at arm’s length. “I didn’t know this was more than a social call, Eliot. What happened?” 

“Just had to deal with some Russians for a case I was working on. I’ll live.” 

“Are you sure?” 

Eliot smiled at that. “Well, under your care, I’m pretty sure I’ll pull through.” 

“If we do things my way, I’m pretty sure you will, too.” 

(0o0)

TWO DAYS LATER…

Late Afternoon: 

Nate paced back and forth in front of the screens in the meeting area of his apartment, waiting for the others to arrive. One by one, they did so, until all of them were in attendance except for Eliot. He couldn’t possibly still be with his date from the other night, could he? Nate immediately dismissed the idea as foolish. Touching his earbud, he said, “Eliot? Where are you?” 

No answer. Not even static. Seeing the look on the Mastermind’s face, Hardison immediately pulled up the tracking feature he had built into the earbuds and searched for Eliot’s earbud. 

Still nothing. 

That was odd. If the earbud was turned off, it was still GPS trackable. If it was damaged, it would show up offline. But it shouldn’t just not show up at all. It was as though the man had dropped off the face of the earth. An uneasy feeling swept over Hardison as he considered the implications of that. 

“Hardison,” Nate said, pulling him out of his thoughts and back to reality. “I need all the information you can find for me on the woman Eliot left the bar with two nights ago. Does anyone even know her name?” 

“Eliot introduced her as Nurse Gail,” Parker said. At Nate’s tilted head and confused look, she spoke again. “Hardison told him he should’ve let us get him to a hospital, and he said he had hired a nurse. I was expecting an older woman. When she walked in, Eliot introduced her as Nurse Gail.” 

“He was joking, Parker. She wasn’t really a nurse.” 

“I don’t know. They walked out together like they were old friends, and she was looking him over on the sidewalk outside.” 

Leave it to Parker to be the perceptive one of the bunch. 

“Probably agreeing on pricing and services,” Hardison said. 

“Name’s worth checking into, though,” Nate replied. 

Hardison nodded. 

(0o0) 

Hardison was seated at the dining table in Nate’s apartment, still searching any available source he could find for any sign of Eliot or the woman he left the bar with. He was so engrossed in what he was doing that he jumped when Nate laid a hand on his shoulder. 

“Any luck?” 

“No.” Hardison shook his head. “Nothing. There are dozens or maybe hundreds of military nurses with a some variation of Gail in their first or middle name, but none whose pictures match the woman who walked into the bar and out with Eliot. Of course, Eliot isn’t exactly forthcoming about his friends, and she may not even be a nurse.”

“And Eliot?” 

“As for Eliot, none of the contact numbers I have for him work, he isn’t answering his phone and he’s turned off the GPS tracking. He’s in the wind, man”

Sophie and Nate exchanged glances and the uneasiness flashed like lightning between them. 

“Let’s start at Eliot’s house,” Nate said. 

“Okay. I assume you know where it is?” Hardison asked.

“Eliot wasn’t exactly forthcoming about that, either.” 

“You mean, we don’t have an address at all, not even in the fake employment paperwork?” asked Sophie.

“Well, he’s given us several addresses. I don’t know if any of them are legitimate.” Hardison answered, thinking hard. 

“What do we have to lose?” 

(0o0)

When all was said and done, they came up with four possible addresses. The team piled into Lucille, prepared to drive to each one, until they found their friend. The first was an old wooden storage building/barn type structure, weathered with age, with windows covered with dirt and grime. Nate used an old towel to rub a peephole through the dust and grime. All he saw was a row of what appeared to be classic cars, covered with cloth and a thin layer of dust, and taking up every square inch of space inside the building. There was no way this could be the right place. 

The second address was a vacant lot. There were two narrow trails worn into the grass, evenly spaced, and a large square of space where the tall grass was bent over. Nate tilted his head sideways and looked at it, as though trying to figure out where this piece fit into the rest of the puzzle. There was absolutely nowhere to store anything, nor was there any sort of shelter.

The third address was not even GPS trackable, and the team was forced to use a compass to find the location (“old school,” as Hardison would call it), of a cave that was worn in the side of a mountain, in the middle of nowhere, and at the top of a surprisingly steep mountain trail. Breathing heavily as they walked up on it, Nate shone a flashlight inside, wondering as he did so, what these places had to do with their friend, if indeed, they weren’t simply random coordinates he had used as addresses to serve his purpose at the time. Nate’s gut told him that Eliot wouldn’t use random coordinates, (at least, not like this) and in his experience, Eliot had a purpose for everything he did. The object now was to figure out what the purpose was for this, and when he did that, Nate couldn’t help but feel he would understand some things about his friend that he didn’t understand currently, though he was forced to wonder if his ignorance truly was bliss, under the circumstances. 

“Nate, you should have let me look these places up on satellite imagery,” Hardison said, panting slightly as he brought up the rear. 

“That wouldn’t have told us which one he was using, if he is using any of them,” Parker said quietly. She took a water bottle out of her pocket, unscrewed the lid, and took a long drink.

“Well, he keeps his secrets well, doesn’t he?” Sophie mused. 

“Let’s go.” 

The fourth and final address was an apartment building on the edge of the old part of the city. The apartments were above a popular tack shop that sat on the ground floor. The building was well kept and clean, though the architectural style was a clear sign of the building’s age. Nate wasn’t sure what to do. He was pretty sure that Eliot, if he were home, wouldn’t appreciate them barging in uninvited, and he was even more sure that the man wouldn’t like the fact that they tracked him down. They didn’t know for sure which apartment was Eliot’s and the last thing they needed was to be arrested or shot for breaking and entering into the wrong apartment. He walked into the tack shop, thinking hard. 

“Can I help you?” asked a cheerful voice. Nate looked up to see an attractive red head about Eliot’s age, dressed in a denim mini skirt, a checkered shirt, cowboy boots and a tan Stetson studying him from beside the rack of flannel shirts she had paused in straightening. 

Nate just stared at her for a moment, then he recovered himself and found his voice. “Do you live here?” 

“In the shop?” She asked, amused. 

“Well, no, in one of the apartments above the shop,” he answered. 

“Yes. Are you looking for Doctor Abernathy?” 

“Yes, we are, but how did you know that?”

“He said a small group of people might come in looking for him. Asked me to give you this.” 

She handed him an envelope and turned back to the jeans she was now folding or re-folding and placing on shelves. 

“Which apartment does Doctor Abernathy live in?” 

“He said to tell you that everything you need to know is in that envelope.” 

“Thank you.” 

Knowing they had all of the information they would get from the shop-keeper, Nate headed back to Lucille, with the rest of the team. When the doors closed, they all spoke at once. Nate let out a shrill whistle and they all fell silent. 

“Here,” he said, handing the envelope to Parker. “It has your name on it.” 

Parker took the envelope from the mastermind, slipped her finger under the flap on the top, and opened it. She turned the paper over in her hands, for a moment, not really seeing it, but trying to figure out why Eliot would have addressed the letter to her. Very slowly, she unfolded the letter, and began to read silently.


	2. Chapter 2

Parker felt the eyes of the rest of the team on her as she unfolded the letter. She couldn’t help but notice that Eliot had really nice handwriting for a guy. 

Parker,   
If you are reading this, you’ve found at least part of the trail I laid, carefully, over the time the team has worked together. I suspected this day would come, sooner or later. I’m addressing this letter to you because we do the things the others can’t…won’t. Remember what I taught you. 

I’m not going to tell you why I left or where I’ve gone. Nate won’t like that, and you probably don’t either, but it’s necessary, Parker. This is the only way I could keep you all safe. I need you to trust me on that. Once word gets out that I have disappeared, my life is forfeit. No matter what happens—how this turns out—I won’t be coming back to you. I’m sorry I had to tell you that so bluntly, but I need you to accept that part, right now, so you don’t go into what follows compromised. The team doesn’t need to know that part, under any circumstances. 

Parker stopped reading, willing herself to steadiness. She wasn’t crying—not exactly. It was more like her soul was screaming at what she had just read. She fought to get herself under control, determined to do as Eliot wished, and not let the rest of the team see that there was something wrong. Sophie saw that she had stopped reading and laid a hand on her arm. She looked up, startled, to see Nate, watching her expectantly. She shook her head and looked down at the letter again. As she saw what the next words said, she started to read out loud. 

“I’m sure, by now, that Nate is wanting to know what this letter says, so you may read this part of it out loud to the team, if you wish.

“Nate, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was leaving, but it had to be this way to ensure the safety of my team…my family. I have laid out extensive backup plans to a network of trusted people who will protect you all. You may or may not see them, but I assure you, they are there. They will make contact if the need arises, and you may make contact with them by saying the phrase “LONE WOLF” aloud. You are free to go about business as usual, but please do not come after me. Doing so will only put my friends in unnecessary danger and possibly cause harm to you, too, not to mention making everyone’s jobs harder. If you feel the need to hire a permanent hitter as part of the team, there’s a small leather bound notebook in the top right drawer of my desk which has some names in it. I will make contact again, if I can, but if you don’t hear from me, please know how much this time with all of you has meant to me. You are some of the finest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.”

“Damn,” Nate said, frustrated. When Parker finished reading, she folded the letter carefully and concealed it in an inside pocket. Feeling Nate’s eyes on her, she looked up and said, “What?” 

“Where did Eliot go? Why did he leave?” 

“I don’t know. He didn’t say.” 

“Well, what did he say,” Nate asked, frustrated. 

“I read the part he gave me permission to read.”

‘That’s just great. I guess we might as well go back to the bar.”   
(0o0)

The “night guard” looked out the window as the taxi moved rapidly through the deserted streets. He marveled that he could hear someone’s dog (or maybe it was a stray) barking off in the distance. Most of the larger cities of the world had a robust night life, and the night was almost as crowded and noisy as the day. He had to remind himself that this wasn’t a large city. It wasn’t even a medium sized town. This was a small town, of the kind that rolled up the sidewalks at 8pm, and everyone was safe at home, warm in their beds, asleep. His mind told him not to stop here…not to stop at all until he reached the airport, but there was something he needed. It would only take a moment, if there was no trouble. If there was, well. He’d dealt with trouble many times before. He was pulled from his thoughts when the car stopped in front of a rather large house. He got out of the car, slipped off into the house, and then, fifteen minutes later, he came out, dragging something behind him. He left whatever it was in the garden, got back into the car and motioned the driver to move on back into the night. 

Then, he pushed the button to close the glass that separated the driver from the passengers in the back seat, and opened the bag he had brought with him when he came back out. Quickly, he changed clothes, folding those he had had on neatly and placing them back in the bag. He would dispose of them later. 

(0o0)

As soon as the team was back in familiar territory, Nate had Hardison begin the search, once again, for any sign of the girl Eliot was with. He hoped she could give them some perspective on the situation. However, after several hours of looking, he had to concede that she had disappeared as well. 

“Hardison, I want you to go back through all of our old cases with a fine toothed comb and check to be sure everything is still as it should be.”

“What do you mean, Nate?”

“Just make sure everyone was who we thought they were, everyone we destroyed is still destroyed, everyone we put in jail is still there.” 

“On it.”

“Nate, what are you thinking?” 

“Listen, Eliot left for a reason. Now it may have had something to do with us—with one of our cases—or it may not have. I just want to be sure we’ve covered all of our bases, and that if he has left us a trail to follow, we don’t miss it.” 

What Nate didn’t say was that he didn’t know what else to do. He had always suspected, (okay, known) that Eliot was capable of disappearing without a trace, if he wanted to do so, but in the past years, as the team worked together and slowly became more than a team, he had come to believe that Eliot trusted them enough (him, enough) not to leave without telling them. But now, it appeared that even that assessment was incorrect. 

At that moment, a loud beeping sound issued from Hardison’s computer, making everyone in the room jump. Hardison toggled back to look at the new information, and a moment later, he threw a fist in the air triumphantly and said, “Found her.” 

“What?” Nate asked, afraid he hadn’t heard correctly. 

“Well, I didn’t actually find her. I found a picture of her under the name of Theresa Gay on social media, but the page is dark.” 

“Meaning?”   
“Meaning there hasn’t been any activity on it in months.” 

“So how does that help us?” 

“It gives us a picture, and with a picture, we can set the facial recognition software to scan for her. Might help us find her faster.” 

“All right. I guess that’s the best we can do for now.” He rose and moved over to the door of his apartment, stopping before he opened it, but not turning around. 

“Let me know when you find something.” 

“Where are you going?” Sophie asked. 

“Down to the bar to think.”


	3. Chapter 3

Parker slipped out of the team’s headquarters when everyone else was occupied. She needed to think, to process what she had read, and she needed some information, and had an idea about how to get it. She looked around, trying not to be obvious about what she was doing. Eliot’s letter had said that he had an extensive network of friends he trusted watching the team. She couldn’t see anyone out of the ordinary. Either they weren’t really there, or they were very good at what they did. There was only one way to find out. 

She sat down on a bench at the edge of the park, looking out over the grassy fields. “Lone Wolf,” she said. For a long moment, nothing happened, and she had just about convinced herself that nothing would happen, when a person sat down beside her. She started to turn to look and see who it was, but a voice said, “Don’t look around and don’t mention names. Look straight ahead and ask your questions.” 

“I need to know what he meant when he said his life is forfeit.” 

The silence drew out, until she thought she wouldn’t get an answer, then came a tired sigh, and the voice said, “Because of the nature of his job in the service, he carries information that makes any sort of disappearance dangerous. If his whereabouts cannot be verified within seventy two hours, the council will be notified, and they will issue orders to kill him, as a matter of National Security. If he is found within that time, he will be examined by the council to determine if the information he carries was compromised, and a decision will be made at that time as to what will be done with him.”

“So he thinks this-this information he carries will be compromised? Is that what he’s saying?”

“Not necessarily. It is likely that he is trying to prepare you for such an event, in case it were to happen. He’s a valuable asset, and one that they will not give up easily.”

“This doesn’t make sense. Why would his military friends want to kill him?” 

“No one said it was his friends who would want him found, although I am sure they would also like to know where he is.”

“So we have three days to find him?” 

“After that time, I am duty bound to report him missing. Anyone in the military who knows of this is. Not doing so would be considered an act of treason.” 

“I see.” She fell silent, and sat there for a while, trying to process what the faceless voice had told her. When she felt she could face the team, she rose to leave, and it was only then that she realized the bench was empty except for her. She slipped back inside their headquarters, hoping not to be seen, as she didn’t want to face the rest of the team at the moment. It was only a matter of time before they started asking questions—questions that Eliot had made it clear she couldn’t answer. 

(0o0) 

Nate walked slowly down a long hallway, growing more nervous as he approached the door to the office he was visiting. He wasn’t really supposed to be here, and if he was caught, he was sure to go back to jail. Swallowing hard at that thought, he took care to be less conspicuous than he felt. He approached the door and knocked on it. “Come,” a quiet voice said. He turned the knob, and then caught his foot on a raised place in the carpet around the door jamb. Grabbing for the door frame, he fell inside the office door, catching himself at the last moment. 

An amused voice said, “Well, Mister Ford, that was quite an entrance you made. Why don’t you come sit down and have some tea and tell me what it is I can do for you?”

His voice was little more than a whisper. “I need to tell you something, off the record, and for the safety of one of our people, I need you to keep everyone else out of it.”

“I can’t promise that until I know what it is you want to tell me.” 

He leaned forward and spoke so low that she almost didn’t hear him. 

“I need to know if you know a Nurse Gail?” 

The expression on her face didn’t change, and she leaned back in her chair, studying Nate carefully. Finally, she said, “I know several of them. Why?” 

Nate didn’t answer her, but asked another question instead. “Do any of the ones you know also know Eliot?” 

“Again, several of them do. We were on the same team, so it stands to reason we know many of the same people. I take it this has something to do with Eliot?” 

Nate had known that he was taking a risk coming here, but he wasn’t sure what else to do. 

“Kitty, I’m not even sure I should be here. Eliot made it clear he doesn’t want any of us involved in this, so I’m taking a risk coming here.”

“If there is something going on with Eliot, you need to tell me.” Doc’s voice had a quality that Nate had never heard in it before, though he wasn’t sure what it was, exactly. 

Nate eyed her suspiciously. “Why?” 

“I’m not at liberty to share that with you, though it is a matter of life and death. I need you to trust me, Nathan.”

He couldn’t bring himself to say the words out loud. Leaning forward, in a voice just a little more than a whisper, he said, “Eliot has disappeared. I need to know if he is working on something for you all.” 

She rose faster than anyone had a right to do, placed a finger to her lips and motioned to him to follow her. She stalked down the long hallway, so fast that he could barely keep up. She stopped abruptly in front of another door, wrenching it open. Nate barely stopped without running into her. A temperature change indicated that they were in a tunnel, and she moved through it with purpose. Nate was breathing hard when she stopped outside of another door and knocked three times fast. 

“Enter,” said a voice. She opened the door wide and held it, ushering Nate into the room. She walked in after and locked the door behind them. The man behind the desk stood when he saw her, and Nate swallowed hard at the size of the large man. He knew Vance, of course, but he had not realized until now just how large a man he was. 

“Kitty?” He asked, questioning.

Kitty motioned Nate to a seat in front of the desk. She sat next to him, and the tall man sat down across from them. 

“Colonel Vance, Is this room secure?” 

He looked hard at her for a moment, then nodded once, realizing she had asked the question for Nate’s benefit. She looked at Nate. 

“Ask him the question you asked me.” 

“I’m not even sure it’s a good idea for me to be here.” 

“Mister Ford, why did you come here?” 

“Eliot trusts you, and I don’t know too many people I can trust in this situation.” 

Colonel Vance looked hard at the two of them. “What’s going on?” 

Nate spoke quietly. “Eliot was injured pretty badly on our last job. We know he hired a nurse, and we have reason to believe she was a friend of his and a military nurse. Now, he’s gone. My first thought was that he might be involved in something with you. So now I’m asking—Do you know the whereabouts of Eliot Spencer?” 

Vance rose without a word, and moved over to a side bar in his office. He picked up a carafe and poured coffee into one of the cups sitting there and then another. 

“Coffee, Mister Ford?” Doc asked. 

He shook his head, still intent on the matter at hand. Vance came back over to his desk, handing one of the cups to Doc before he moved around and sat down in his desk chair once again. Finally, he said, “No. I don’t. In fact, this is the first I’ve heard of it. I can check with a few others who might know, though. May I ask how you came to know about this?” 

“I’d rather not say.” 

“It might be important.” 

Nate thought hard for a moment, then made a quick decision. He either trusted them or he didn’t. 

“We traced down each of the addresses he gave to the team over the time he has worked with us, and over the course of doing that, we ran into someone who gave us a letter addressed to Parker. In it, Eliot said goodbye and asked us not to come after him.” Nate fell silent, unsure how much he should tell. Doc and Vance exchanged glances. This didn’t sound good. 

Kitty asked, “What do you know about this Nurse you said he hired?” 

“We haven’t been able to find her, but Hardison found some information online that indicates she’s a military nurse. He introduced her as Nurse Gail.” 

He looked at Kitty. “Precautions.” She nodded. Then, Vance speared Nate with a steady gaze. The older man grew uncomfortable under the intense scrutiny, but kept his gaze locked with Vance’s. Finally Vance said, “Let me do some checking and I’ll have some information for you this afternoon. Where can I find you?” 

“I’ll leave my number with Kitty. When you find out, call or text me and I’ll meet you somewhere. I think the less said over electronic communications, the better.” 

Vance nodded. Noted. “Mister Ford, I’m going to ask you to do something for me.”

“What’s that?” “Keep everything we’ve discussed in here between us. Eliot’s life may depend on it.” 

Nate nodded, and moved to the door. Before he opened it, he turned back and looked at the two of them. “Thank you.” 

(0o0)

The taxi stopped at the entrance to the smaller airport, and by all accounts, a soldier got out. He walked straight into the men’s room, and when he was sure he was alone, he barricaded the door so no one could disturb him. Then, he went into one of the stalls, climbed up on the toilet seat and pushed a ceiling tile aside, retrieving a bag. Careful not to make too much noise, he changed clothes. Quickly donning clean work pants, a long sleeved shirt, sleeveless jacket and tennis shoes, he should blend into the crowd at almost any airport. He completed the look with sunglasses and a hat. 

Looking into the bag, he smiled with satisfaction. His man had done well. There was a passport, plane ticket, and reading material, among other things meant to make him look like just another traveler. By the time anyone found out otherwise, it would be far too late. 

Discarding his old clothes and exiting the restroom, he joined the line to get through security checkpoints. If he timed it correctly, the plane would be boarding by the time he reached his gate.


	4. Chapter 4

“What do you think, Kitty?” The two senior military officers were still seated in Vance’s office, recovering somewhat from the news Nate Ford had just dropped on them. 

“I think I’d like to talk to this Nurse Gail, and I think I’d like to do it as quickly as possible.” Kitty spoke quietly.

“Agreed. How?” Vance asked.

“I’m still thinking about that.” 

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, then another thought occurred to Doc, and she spoke aloud. “So, Eliot went into this—whatever this is—without calling either team for backup. What does that tell us?” 

“Maybe a couple of things—might be the kind of mission where he doesn’t want to risk his friends, so he hired his backup. Could be it was a simple mission that didn’t require backup.”

“Could be he thinks he can handle it himself. The damned fool.” The tone was affectionate enough, and she had been down this road before with Eliot. With both of them, truth be told. So he guessed she was entitled to be a little frustrated.

“Kitty,” he said, quietly. 

She continued. “And we don’t know that he didn’t contact any of his military friends, just that he didn’t contact us.” 

“I can find that out this afternoon, as well as who he might have hired, if he hired anybody. A few well placed questions here, a whisper there,—“ he broke off as he saw the look on Doc’s face. “What is it?” 

“I think we need to be very careful with the questions we ask, and with whom we ask them.” 

Vance gave her a hard look, so she continued. “While it is true that Eliot has a lot of friends in DC, he also has quite a few enemies here, and not all of them are under our control.”

He nodded once. Noted and logged. They each had their assignments, and they knew what intel they needed for the mission at hand. There was nothing more to say. Vance looked at his watch. It was just after oh-nine-hundred.

“Meet back here at 14:00 hours,” he said. “Call me if you have something sooner.” 

Doc nodded. “14:00 it is.”

(0o0)

Vance silently contemplated what he and Doc had said to one another, and also what they hadn’t said. She was right when she said that Eliot had some enemies here, and he also had some acquaintances who were neither friend nor enemy, and who could be both, as the occasion warranted. He knew it was the council that Doc was most worried about. If he were truthful, that’s who he was the most worried about as well. 

They had both tried to talk the man out of joining—hell, he never wanted anyone on his team to join the shadow forces, as they were called on the inside—joining the black ops was bad enough, and he knew that none of them had clean hands in that respect. But over and above that, there were the ghosts. Those men who were the stuff of legends, who entered and left places by dark of night, or in broad daylight, leaving no trace of their presence or anything else behind. An elite team who completed the missions no one else could manage. A team whose very presence was rumored in whispers behind closed doors, but could not be verified. They were the ones who stood in the gap, the last resort when all else failed. And they answered to the council—to one another, and to themselves. He hadn’t wanted his friend, a man who was like a brother to him, to join, but in the end, Eliot hadn’t really had a choice. Once his unique talents had been discovered, he had been targeted. He tried to resist, but they just kept looking until they found something they could hold over him. Vance never knew what it was, but it had to be something major if they were able to use it to force his cooperation. 

Doc was right. They needed to find Eliot before the council did. They might just kill him to keep their presence a continued secret, not to mention for any information he might be carrying that would make him a liability to them. 

Vance breathed a heavy sigh and settled in to work. 

(0o0)

Doc returned to her office, having an idea of where she might start to look for one military nurse named Gail. Doc assumed that any computer searches on military computers were monitored. So, she reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a thumb drive, which she plugged into her computer. Touching buttons in a particular sequence, as Shelley had taught her to do, the system bypassed the computer’s operating system and opened a window to a secret server on a ghost web. She ordered the computer to show files of any medical personnel who would have had a chance to be in the proximity of Boston in the past two weeks, and to cross reference those with nurses with Gail in their name. 

Moments later, the computer spit out five names. She skimmed their travel histories and their leave requests as quickly as she could, and realized that two of them were in the right place at the right time. One of those reported in to Hanscom Air Base in Bedford, Massachusetts to change her mode of transport when she received word her orders had changed and she was set to return to her home base more quickly than she was supposed to do so. Doc doubted she met with anyone. She would find out in a matter of moments. The other one was scheduled for her duty shift just down the hall any minute now. Shutting down the window, she pulled the flash drive out of her computer and placed it back in her desk drawer. 

Then she reached for the phone on her desk. As she did so, it started to ring.

(0o0)

Vance started with members of his own team—knowing which ones were safe to ask, as well as which were likely to know. After an hour of phone calls and well placed questions, Vance had exhausted nearly all of his ‘safe’ contacts, and still wasn’t any closer to finding out whom, if anyone, Eliot had hired. He certainly hadn’t asked any of his military contacts for help, which was odd, unless he was on the type of mission in which no one could help him. 

Vance couldn’t help but think there was something they were missing. Eliot had always been a loner, yes. That was what had made him so good at so many of the missions he completed. Contrary to what Doc had said when she was angry, they both knew Eliot was smarter than average. Still, something wasn’t adding up in his mind, though he couldn’t exactly put his finger on what it was. He wanted to ask Ford more questions, and would do so when they met this afternoon. As he was thinking about where to go next with his research, the telephone on his desk rang. He answered it, listened for a few moments, and then left his office in a hurry. 

(0o0)

Moments later, he opened the door that led out into the Navy yard, wondering why Doc had asked him to meet her here. Doc stuck her head out from where she was working when she heard the door open. “Colonel, we need to talk. Join me on board?” She motioned vaguely behind her, and for the first time, Vance realized that the plane Doc used to teach her medics about air emergencies and rescue at altitude was being fueled up behind her. He thought for a moment, nodded once, and climbed aboard. 

Once they were seated, she didn’t seem to be ready to talk about why she had called him here, so he spoke first. 

“Did you find her?” 

“That’s what we’re about to find out—if you choose to accompany me, that is.” 

At that, he looked at her sideways. “We’re supposed to meet our contact this afternoon.” 

“Yes, and I would like to have something to tell him when we see him.”

“I think I need a little more, Commander.”

“As you wish, Colonel. As I was researching our mission, I received a telephone call from a base to the North, requesting my presence while they question nurse on their medical staff, who has been AWOL for the past thirty six hours. They think she might have stolen some sensitive material, but she didn’t return with it, and she has no recollection of where she has been for the past two days, nor of anyone she was with. When she returned, she was caught trying to steal drugs from the dispensary at the base hospital. I thought you might want to hear what she has to say.”

He nodded once, and she toggled a switch on the table in front of her, informing the pilot they were ready for takeoff.


	5. Chapter 5

When the plane landed a little over an hour later, the two high ranking officers descended on the base as though they owned the place. Doc was met by the base doctor, who led them into his office. Doc was surprised and somewhat shocked to see that the clearly terrified woman was surrounded by MPs.

“What is going on, Doctor?” 

“The Lieutenant has been AWOL for the past thirty six hours, and when she returned, she went straight to the dispensary and started going through the cabinets and packing boxes. We caught her when she left, but she claims to have no recollection of anything over the past thirty six hours, or of packing the boxes she was carrying when she was found.”

“And what is it you want from me?” 

“I’m a little outside my area of expertise here, but I’m told this sort of thing is your specialty. Please talk to her—maybe help her remember what happened, and make a recommendation both on a course of treatment, and on appropriate disciplinary action.”

“All right. I’ll need a private place to do the tests I’ll need, and I’ll need the Colonel’s assistance,” she said, nodding at Vance. “Please have your MPs wait in the hallway, as she may need an escort to the brig when this is sorted out.”

When the MPs were safely in the hallway, with the door closed and locked behind them, Doc addressed the woman in front of her. 

“I’m Lieutenant Commander Katherine Carrington, MD, out of the Surgeon General’s office. The gentleman with me is Colonel Vance.”

The young woman nodded nervously, but didn’t offer her own name. Doc looked at her expectantly, and when she didn’t answer, Doc asked, “And you are?” 

The young woman shook her head. “I don’t know.” 

“Stealing drugs from the dispensary. That’s a rather serious charge that has been leveled against you, Lieutenant. Would you care to explain yourself?” 

She ducked her head, not sure she could make the new doctor or the Colonel believe her, if she told them the story. It was rather far fetched after all. 

That particular look wasn’t lost on Doc, and she studied the young woman carefully. When her detainee didn’t speak, she did. 

“You have nothing to fear from me if you tell me the truth.” Still the young woman didn’t speak. 

“I’ve reviewed your record, Lieutenant, and I must say, it is stellar. This is the first whiff of any wrongdoing the military has ever seen from you. Now, I hope you don’t expect me to believe that an officer with an otherwise stellar record suddenly starts stealing drugs from the base hospital for no reason. I suspect there is something else happening here, and I’d like to help you salvage your career, if you’ll let me.” Doc gazed at her appraisingly. 

The young woman nodded. 

“I-I don’t remember anything. I feel like I should know this place, these people, and should remember what happened, but I don’t.” The young woman was practically shaking with fear, and Doc felt the waves of tension rolling off of her. 

“Take it easy, Lieutenant,” Doc said quietly. The young woman gave her a sideways look, and Doc spoke again. “I’m going to do everything I can to bring the memories you’ve lost back to you, but I need you to trust me and I need you to do what I tell you to do.” 

The young woman nodded. “What happens if this doesn’t—” she broke off, unable to go any further with that thought. 

“Doesn’t what?” Doc asked. 

“What happens if it turns out that I’m—that I’ve done what they say I did?”

“We’ll deal with that when the time comes. Let’s not meet trouble halfway,” Doc replied gently. 

“Knowing’s better than not, I guess.” She looked Doc in the eye for the first time, and Doc was pleased to see a hint of the spark that must usually be a part of her personality. “I’ll be grateful for any help you can give me.”   
“Good. Thank you. I want to start with a physical exam, so that we can compare that to your service record to establish a baseline.” 

The young blonde nodded and glanced at Vance. Taking the hint, Vance said, “I’ll wait outside.”

Doc shook her head slightly and said, “Why don’t you start the process of having the Lieutenant here released into our custody? I believe it requires some paperwork. There are a couple of things I want to do which will require the facilities of my lab at Walter Reed.” 

Vance nodded and left the room. 

The Lieutenant swallowed hard at that, wondering what was in store for her, but Doc’s face gave nothing away. 

“So, what are we going to do now,” asked the young Lieutenant in Doc’s care. 

“I’m going to inform my pilot that we’ll be ready for takeoff in about twenty minutes or a little less, and you are going to accompany me. After that, we will use the facilities aboard to complete your physical exam, and then we will talk about where this is going to go from there. All right?” 

“Okay.” 

(0o0)

Parker was seated at Eliot's desk in what they all affectionately called the treatment room, just off of Nate’s apartment, which had become the team’s headquarters, looking for the book Eliot had mentioned in the letter he wrote to the team. The thief still wasn’t sure why Nate wanted it, and being in this room, without Eliot, felt…strange. After all, they were still trying to find any information available about the woman Eliot had called Nurse Gail, and she couldn’t help feeling that her time would be better spent out looking for her. A moment later, a chime sounded on the computer sitting on Eliot’s desk, and Parker looked up just in time to see something happen. A small window popped up on the larger display screen, and she watched in horror as the screen filled with blurred action, which coalesced into search dogs on leashes, swarming the grounds of a large estate. 

Moments later, a dark haired man strode in front of the camera’s viewfinder, barking orders in a foreign language. He looked familiar, but Parker couldn’t quite place him. After a moment, he stopped and looked straight at the camera, realizing it was recording. His next words were short and to the point. 

“The fox has flown the chicken coup. I need some assistance to get it back, my friend.” 

The screen went dark, and Parker continued looking for the book Nate had asked her to find. She pulled it out, looked at it like he had found the grand prize in a box of Cracker Jacks, and set it in her lap. Half a minute later, the implications of what she had just seen hit her like a lightning bolt, and she froze. She tried to rewind the short video stream so she could watch it again, but it was apparently live. 

Then, the face and the name collided in her mind. General Flores. San Lorenzo. Eliot’s friend. A giant squishy ball of anxiety began rolling around in her gut, threatening to slosh out all over the place. She touched the com in her ear. 

“Nate, we have a problem.”


End file.
